July 9-10, 2011, Royal Basin

We have been talking about getting out to ski in the Olympics for some time and so decided on a trip to the Royal Basin/ Mt. Deception area last weekend.
Just as we got on the trail at about 2:30 PM Saturday (Peter and John were already 100 yards ahead of me) a hiker even older than me stopped to let me pass, looked at the skis and climbing gear on my pack and said €œYOU should know better.  I think he had sized up our group pretty quickly and accurately: Peter (17) had for the most part planned the trip; John (21) was too busy to check the details like distance, elevation gain and objective; Dad (55) was just hoping that his knees and feet would hold up for the round trip. We made it up to the lower meadow by 6:30 and but camped at Royal Lake - a little further but very scenic.
Sunday we opted for a tour instead of summit and so climbed some of the steep pitches to the south of Royal Basin and did find some great terrain and snow conditions. We ended up logging around 25 miles of hiking and skiing over two days. It is a spectacular area and warrants a longer stay. The next trip will be 3-4 days and the packs will be lighter (somehow).